Alan Wake: Winter Dawn
by Dreamconductor
Summary: This story takes place three years after the original Alan Wake game and one year after the spin-off called Alan Wake's American Nightmare. In this story, Alan Wake finds himself in another episode of Night Springs which he wrote earlier in his life. This time, the episode is set in a small town in Minnesota where Alan wants to find decisive clues to return to the real world.
1. Prologue

Author's note: Hi everyone, I'm a huge fan of the Alan Wake franchise and this is my first fanfic so if you gave advice to me how to improve my writing, I'd be glad. This story takes place three years after the original Alan Wake game and one year after the spin-off called Alan Wake's American Nightmare. In this story, Alan Wake finds himself in another episode of Night Springs which he wrote earlier in his life. This time, the episode is set in the small town of Lightmere, Minnesota, where our eponymous hero wants to find decisive clues to return to the real world since he's still trapped in the Dark Place. However, Alan encounters Lucius Milton, who is sort of Mr Scratch's henchman. Will Alan be able to handle this new dangerous enemy? Will he even return to the real world? Or will he be trapped in the Dark Place forever?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Alan Wake characters or places, the only character I own is Lucius Milton.

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**Prologue**

My name is Alan Wake and I'm a writer. Three years went by since my first encounter with the Dark Presence. It's been a horrible time. At first, my wife Alice persuaded me to spend our vacation in a small town in Washington, called Bright Falls. There, the Dark Presence engulfed her and in order to save her, I had to switch places with her. Therefore I'm trapped in the Dark Place now. Then, about one year ago, I seemingly destroyed Mr Scratch in the drive-in when I underwent the events of my sequel to Departure, which I named Return. I'm still not completely sure whether I really defeated Mr Scratch or not. I hope that I'll find this out sooner or later.

By now, I'm in the small town Lightmere, Minnesota, based on another Night Springs episode that I wrote when I was a young man. On the one hand, I chose this setting because of the fact that in Minnesota there are places where the real world and the world beyond slightly touch each other, like in Arizona or in Bright Falls. On the other hand, I chose this episode due to the time it's set in: winter. To be more specific, it's set during Christmas time, which could be an advantage for me due to numerous lights, which are everywhere during that period.

So there I was. Still trapped in the Dark Place, but this time I had another chance to return to the real world. I stood next to the town sign. Lightmere. What an interesting name, in particular due to the "light" in there. It was snowing. The whole ground was covered with snow, but as I looked around, I saw something glittering. I reached my hand out to it and grabbed it. A flashlight and a revolver! I wonder why I'm still a little bit surprised. These tools are eventually kind of essential to fight against the darkness. I checked the revolver's barrel. There were just six rounds in it and since there weren't any signs of ammo far and wide, I had to be economical.

I entered the town and looked around. Nobody there. Just me. At least all the Christmas lights were on. I kept moving until I suddenly heard a strange noise. In a strange way, it sounded familiar to me. A loud, distorted yelling. Although I already knew what I had to face the next moment, I was still a little bit shocked. A tall man appeared in front of me. He had a dark shadowy aura around him and he wore a thick winter jacket.

"DURING WINTER TIME, WE HAVE TO LUMBER AS MUCH AS WE CAN!" the man yelled.

Without hesitation, I aimed my flashlight at this Taken. After a few seconds, the dark aura suddenly vanished. Then I took my revolver and shot him twice. After the second shot, the Taken also vanished, leaving just a few bright sparks.

After this encounter, I needed a minute to spare. It was tiring to fight against those Taken. Now I understood Cynthia's feelings about fighting the Taken much better than before. Although I wanted to rest a bit longer, I had to go. I walked down the main street while thinking about Alice. "Is she alright? Is she in danger?" I asked myself. Suddenly, another Taken appeared right in front of me. He yelled exactly like the one I had destroyed before. I burned the dark aura away, then shot him once. This one shot was enough to destroy him. After that encounter, there were only three rounds left in my revolver. Hoping to find new ammo as quickly as possible, I moved on. What I hadn't noticed yet was the fact that my presence in Lightmere attracted the attention of many Taken. I kept moving when all of a sudden, lots of Taken appeared. They started to surround me and I began to tremble a little bit out of fear. In moments like this, I'd really like to have a flare with me. I aimed my flashlight at some Taken without being very successful. The Taken were still surrounding me and more of them could appear at any moment. After what seemed like an eternity, I managed to destroy two Taken, but after that my ammo was used up. I dodged an attack and ran for dear life. After a short distance, I stumbled and eventually fell down. Many Taken yelled, and this time, it sounded like a full-throated laugh. Only with a bit distortion. That goes without saying. At the moment when I really thought that my last hour had come, a bright reddish light came out of nowhere. It was a flare. Furthermore, I heard gunshots. Suddenly, every Taken vanished bit by bit. After even the last one had been destroyed, I looked up to see my savior.

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Author's note: Yeah, so this was the prologue of my first fanfic ever. I really enjoyed writing it and I hope that you'll enjoy it too. So, who is Alan's savior? What are his goals? Will he help Alan or not? All these questions will be answered in the next episode. See you ;)


	2. Chapter 1: Hiding

**Chapter 1: Hiding**

I could hardly see through all the smoke which was caused by the flare the savior used, but after a few seconds, I finally saw him: a young man who had an ordinary figure and was probably 20 years old.

"No time to talk. Get up!" he said while helping me up.

"Thanks for saving my life." I told him.

"Don't mention it. We have to go now!" he said while observing the street.

"May I have your name?" I inquisitively asked.

"Don't you remember me? McKnight. I'm Harvey McKnight. I'm a journalist." he answered.

At first, I couldn't do anything with that name, but suddenly it occured to me.

"McKnight... Harvey... Wait a minute! You've been working as a writer for Night Springs for one year, haven't you? During that period, I was also writing some episodes for the show!" I said full of delight.

"Yes, there you have me! But I'll explain everything to you later on, now we mustn't stop moving on!" Harvey told me.

We went on and made our way across the main street. As we were walking, some Taken suddenly appeared next to us. Harvey reacted quickly and threw a flashbang at those Taken which destroyed them. However, there were still other Taken approaching.

"We have to backtrack into the light!" Harvey shouted while pointing at a lamp post next to a Christmas shop.

I didn't need to be told twice, so I ran towards the lamp post with Harvey following me. We just managed to get into the safe haven as the Taken wanted to attack us. Now the Taken yelled angrily and then vanished due to the safe haven.

"That was a close call!" I said while being out of breath.

"Indeed. At least we are safe in this light spot." Harvey responded. "As you will have recovered, we have to get to the town's church on top of that hill. Can you see it?"

I needed a few seconds but eventually saw the church. "Yes, I can."

"Good." Harvey told me. "The church is probably the safest place in the whole town right now. There are lots of lights in there."

"What's with the townsfolk? Where are they?" I asked.

"You really should know that, shouldn't you? After all, you're the one who wrote this episode." he replied.

"I know, but... I can't remember what exactly happens in this episode of Night Springs." I said.

"What?! You can't remember? That's fatal!" Harvey told me.

"In order to remember the episode's plot, we have to find all of the manuscript pages which belong to this episode." I said. "Just like old times."

Harvey didn't answer directly after I finished my phrase. He needed a few moments to think about my suggestion, but he eventually gave the go-ahead. "Okay, we'll look out for the manuscript pages, but we still have to reach the church."

"Sounds fair." I responded while smiling at him. At first he wasn't amused, but then he also started laughing as we left the safe haven to get to the church.

On our way to the church, Harvey handed over some ammo to me, for example flares, flashbangs and rounds for my revolver. Now, I felt a lot safer than before. Harvey carried a pump-action shotgun which kind of reminded me of Sheriff Breaker. How is she probably these days? Although I gladly would have continued my thoughts without ruffle or excitement, Harvey and I had to keep moving. Approximately 20 minutes later, we reached the church's main entrance. It was still snowing.

"Here we go." Harvey said joyfully. "The lights in there will certainly help us."

"Let's hope so." I replied.

Harvey took the key to the church and wanted to open it, when suddenly a tall Taken jumped off the church's roof and landed on Harvey. As a result of this attack, Harvey dropped the key and the Taken grabbed it before Harvey was able to do so. I reacted immediately and aimed my flashlight at the Taken who yelled painfully. While I was having my sights on the Taken, Harvey got up and shot him three times after his dark aura had vanished. Harvey picked up the key which had been dropped by the Taken when Harvey destroyed him.

"I hope that this was the last problem we have to deal with today." Harvey said while he was smirking.

"You bet!" I responded sarcastically.

Harvey finally opened the main door and we entered the church. He hadn't exaggerated when he said that the church was the safest place in the whole town: it seemed like there were almost every different source of light in this church, for example candles, bulbs and even oil lamps. I felt very comfortable.

"This place is... awesome!" I said joyfully.

"Yeah. Let's hope that it will protect us from the Taken long enough to recover." Harvey replied.

"Yes, but don't forget about the manuscript pages! We have to find them." I told him.

He nodded and I knew that he meant business which made me confident.

After a few moments of admiring the lights, Harvey suggested that we should consider night watch and that we should rotate, so that both of us could get enough sleep. At first, I wasn't completely sure about this idea, but I eventually gave in and offered to take the first shift which he thankfully accepted. Although it's always night outside because we're in the Dark Place, it must have been late at the ordinary night, I suppose, when Harvey went to bed and I began with the night watch. I took care of Harvey's pump-action shotgun as long as he was sleeping and I aimed two bright searchlights at the church's main entrance, just in case. In addition to that, I spotted two oil lamps next to every window to hold off the Taken. After a few hours, I was too tired to stay awake and I fell asleep. The dream which I had afterwards was really strange: I saw how Alice was on trial due to murder, but I woke up before I could see the result. I was still in the church, in Lightmere. Harvey lay next to me. I looked around to see why I woke up, but I couldn't see anything that would have awakened me. Then, all of a sudden, I heard somebody pounding against the church's main door while yelling distortedly.

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Author's note: So this was the first chapter of my first fanfic. I hope you enjoyed reading it and please tell me whether you appreciate the addition of Harvey as Alan's ally or not. So, who's pounding against the door? The Taken? Or is it someone else? Will Alan and Harvey manage to survive this wintrily nightmare? All these questions will be answered in the next episode. See you ;)


End file.
